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I guess it's easier for them to see the trackside signs, signals, and hazards (like people walking along the tracks and other things). Had to move this to General forum because it has nothing to do with MSTS.

In the United States, we drive on the right side of the road, but operate our cars from the left side. In the UK, the opposite is true.

My question is - why did the railroads position the engineer/train driver on the side opposite from the "driving" side?

Robert

In a typical situation where the trains run on the track on the right, putting the Engineer on the right allows him to catch his orders from his side of the cab. Otherwise the block operator would have to be standing between the tracks! It is also helpful for spotting a passenger train at a platform on the outside (right) side of the tracks. These were very important considerations in the age of steam and manual blocks. Not important now, but why change?

Don't know about the US, but in the UK (where both roads and railways are driven on the left) in the 19th century there was no hard and fast rule, railway companies did what they thought best, with driver and fireman position being a matter of tradition more than anything else.

Before the grouping of 1923, most locomotives were driven from the right hand side. After the grouping most railways changed to the driver being on the left for new designs of locomotive, the main exception being the GWR which persisted with the driver being on the right.